REAL Software Offers Free Upgrade to Stranded VB Users

REAL Software will offer "stranded" Visual Basic (VB) users free upgrades to REALbasic through March 31, the company announced today. On April 1, Microsoft is ending standard support for VB 6.0, which has left millions of enthusiasts and programmers in the lurch.

"Visual Basic users are feeling abandoned right now," REAL Software President and CEO Geoff Perlman said. "They've invested a lot of time and energy into learning Visual Basic. We want them to know that they can leverage those hard-earned skills long into the future with REALbasic. We are simply offering these stranded Visual Basic users the opportunity to join the large, vibrant, and growing REALbasic community--for free."

REAL Software says that REALbasic is so similar to VB 6.0 that VB users will be able to move to the new environment easily, and even a cursory examination of the environment suggests that this statement is true. REALbasic also includes a software utility that helps convert VB 6.0 projects to REALbasic format, further easing the transition. Best of all, according to the company, after VB 6.0 projects are converted to REALbasic, the resulting applications can then be deployed on Linux and the Macintosh because REALbasic, unlike VB 6.0, also targets those non-Windows environments.

REAL Software is offering a free upgrade to REALbasic 5.5 Standard Edition for Windows through March 31, although this version won't be upgradeable to REALbasic 2005, which is shipping within the next several weeks. For more information about REALbasic 5.5 and the VB 6.0 upgrade offer, visit the REAL Software Web site.

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"Visual Basic users...invested a lot of time and energy into learning Visual Basic"

well, if they can't learn a bit of new syntax, they are not much in the way of quality programmers one might suppose...

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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As if up until now MS was supporting VB 6. When was the last service pack for VS6 released? And after 5 service packs transparent labels still don't work on transparent controls!

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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I dont get why everyone is whining, Microsoft is deleteing the product from programmer's PCs, they just arent supporting it, what's with all the callamimity over a legacy programming app?

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Large enterprises that have invested millions of dollars and many years into VB apps still turn to MS for support such as custom patches or hotfixes, which may not be released to the public in an official service pack. Support also involves assistance with using the app, which could be included as part of a maintenance plan.

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Thanks for your tip !
I just received my licence key for realbasic.
The process to get it is hassle free !
This will give me far more time to evaluate realbasic than the standard 10 days demo licence normaly available.

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Read this if you don't understand why so many developers are unhappy:

http://www.grimes.demon.co.uk/dotnet/vbpetition.htm

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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2nd poster: Visual Studio 6 Service Pack 6 was released within the past year, I believe.

Anonymous User March 21, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Ending Support for VB6 will have no real effect on VB6 programmers. I've been using it for years without ever having to contact M$. Theres plenty more useful sources of help on the web

Anonymous User March 22, 2005 (Article Rating:

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I think there needs to be a clarification about the offer from REALBasic. The article states:

"Best of all, according to the company, after VB 6.0 projects are converted to REALbasic, the resulting applications can then be deployed on Linux and the Macintosh because REALbasic, unlike VB 6.0, also targets those non-Windows environments."

According to their website http://www.realsoftware.com/realbasic/pro/, that's not possible with the version they are giving away for free. You have to buy their professional version to do cross-platform development.

If the CEO is really feeling the VB developer’s pain, why not give away the professional version instead!?

Anonymous User March 22, 2005 (Article Rating:

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VB support is not ending! Read that again: VB support is not ending. The two free support incidents will expire, if you haven't used them. If you have used them, then this change won't affect you since you have to pay for additional support incidents anyway. If you have MSDN or a Premier support contract, or are willing to pay, this change won't affect you since support is still there. The change JUST expires the two free support incidents if they were not used yet. Support for VB will continue through at least March 2008.

Anonymous User March 22, 2005 (Article Rating:

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